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Apple Explains Face ID On-stage Failure (bbc.com)
Apple has explained why its new facial recognition feature failed to unlock a handset at an on-stage demo (see around the 1:35:58 mark here) at the iPhone X's launch on Tuesday. From a report: The company blamed the Face ID glitch on a lockout mechanism triggered by staff members moving the device ahead of its unveil. Apple's software chief dealt with the hiccup by moving on to a back-up device, which worked as intended. But the hitch was widely reported. "People were handling the device for [the] stage demo ahead of time and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face," an unnamed company representative is quoted as saying by Yahoo's David Pogue. "After failing a number of times, because they weren't Craig [Federighi], the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode."
I am pretty sure Bill Gates did a rehearsal before connecting a scanner to his W98 PC on the stage when he got a BSOD... Shit happens, and it sometimes happens with the worst timing possible.
Reception issues? You're holding it wrong
You iPhone 6 display touchscreen stops working? You must have dropped it
Video display on your Macbook flickering? Isolated, non-systemic incident
here's another truth to consider.... companies won't tell the truth if it makes them look bad.... they spin it so it's somehow okay or at least insignificant; in this particular context of a 'big release event,' how much pressure do you think there is regarding truth vs perception?